News
Local

401 trucker alerted Oxford farmer to inferno

Frantic knocking on the door early Monday from a truck driver woke farmer Clarence Markus up to a blazing inferno that killed more than half his dairy herd.

The driver noticed flames towering above the cow barns on Clarke Rd. near Beachville while travelling on Hwy. 401 around 2 a.m.

The driver pulled over and banged on the farmhouse door.

When Markus walked outside, it was like stepping out into daylight.

“It was bright as day,” he said. “The whole yard was lit up.”

The milking barn and several outbuildings were engulfed in flames. Firefighters from across southwest Oxford County were able to evacuate some cows, but the animals that were tied up in the milking barn couldn’t be saved.

In total, 110 of Markus’ milking cows, along with almost 40 young stock, perished in the fire.

“The toughest part was recognizing what was going on . . . hearing the cows,” said Markus while surveying the damage in the morning.

“The agony they were going through was the toughest part of the whole thing. In the end, there’s nothing we could do about it.”

Fire crews were still on the scene six hours later, flushing hot spots with water to prevent flare-ups.

A dead cow lay on its side, just meters outside what used to be the door of the milking barn. The smell of burnt hair lingered in the air.

While Markus awoke to his world in flames, he is optimistic he can rebuild the farm with the nearly 100 cattle that escaped the blaze.

“It’s only stuff,” he said. “In the end, we’re still very thankful for what we have. Human life, if that were to happen, would be far more tragic to deal with.”

Firefighters from around south Oxford county work to extinguish hot spots in a cattle barn after an early morning fire levelled the structure at a farm on Clarke Road near Beachville on Monday July 22, 2013. Over 100 cows were killed in the blaze which was discovered by a passing motorist on nearby Highway 401 just after 2 a.m. The residents of the farmhouse were evacuated safely. The amount of damage is not yet known.
CRAIG GLOVER The London Free Press / QMI AGENCY